1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a data processing system. In particular, the present invention relates to a boot image network install in a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a secure boot image network install in a data processing system with or without changing the remote boot code.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, data center administrators often use Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) servers to perform uploads or downloads of boot image files over a network. Boot image files include executable images, configurations that are used to boot and configure devices, such as, workstations, hubs, and switches, and other information necessary for the devices to install the executable images. Trivial File Transfer Protocol is one of the Internet Activities Board (IAB) official protocol standards.
Trivial File Transfer Protocol is a simple protocol used to transfer files. Since Trivial File Transfer Protocol is implemented on top of the Internet User Datagram Protocol (UDP), it may be used to move files between machines on different networks implementing UDP. In addition, Trivial File Transfer Protocol is different from regular File Transfer Protocol (FTP) in that Trivial File Transfer Protocol can only read and write files from or to a remote server. Trivial File Transfer Protocol cannot list directories and has no provisions for user authentication.
While Trivial File Transfer Protocol provides an efficient way to transfer files remotely, it lacks security features, such as user authentication. In particular, Trivial File Transfer Protocol is not secure across subnets. A subnet represents a group of network components that share a common address component, for example, all devices with Internal Protocol addresses that start with 100.100.100. are part of the same subnet. Since Trivial File Transfer Protocol is insecure, the network is compromised when a client from one subnet requests a boot image download from a TFTP server that belongs to another subnet. The network is compromised when access to the client's code is exposed or when the boot image information being downloaded is corrupted or tampered.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method for a secure network install, such that boot images may be uploaded or downloaded across subnets without compromising the network.